It has been way too long since I've blogged! Ironically since I've joined the wine industry, I haven't had time to post on my wine blog nor on my personal blog.

A recent event that had a profound impact on me has prompted me to want
to write. No, it's not what you might think, given the title of the
blog posting -- about romance. At least not traditional romance.

Last week I discovered my father's grandfather, Stefano Romeo, was a winemaker, who owned a winery in Calabria. This clearly explains a lot about me. How I've had this passion for the wine industry that prompted me to work my day PR job in tech and take a second evening job at a wine shop, to volunteer to pour at wine festivals, to start a wine club, and finally to quit a very well paying IT job with an awesome company -- Ping Identity -- for a much less lucrative, but personally rewarding position with a wine company. It also explains my ability to withstand/revel in the intense dry Mediterranean style heat of Arizona/Okanagan, which is so different from the Maritimes climate of my mother's ancestors.

I found this out after meeting with my dad after a prolonged estrangement of about a decade, which I'm now trying to rectify in more diligent correspondence with him despite the thousands of miles that separate us. I wish I hadn't waited so long. Life is so short, that it's idiotic to let old disagreements persist. I never got to meet my great-grandfather Stefano. Nor my grandmother Sarah Romeo.

Where for art thou Romeo?

So, I'm now on a quest. To discover my *distant* family in Calabria. If any are still there. (The region is among the poorest in Italy and there was a massive diaspora in the early 1900s.) I'm planning a trip in the fall (during harvest naturally). I have a lot of research to do between now and then and though I don't speak Italian, I plan to pick some up, and surely, given my looks, I'll at least fit in from an appearance perspective ;)

The Land of Wine?

Calabria was originally called Enoteria or Land of Wine by the Ancient Greeks. Cirò, the region's most celebrated wine made from Gaglioppo grape, is believed to be the oldest wine produced in the world. Archeological findings in the area include an ancient “vinoduct”, a system of pipes that carried wine from the production area to the Sybarites dwellings. The locals believe the area is the true birthplace of Italian wine. Much of the current viticultural process apparently remains similar to that developed in 700 AD, and the grape varietals grown today are the same as those grown during ancient civilization. Despite this historic background, in the past few decades the regional wine industry has faced hard times reaching almost crisis status, dropping from 120K acres under cultivation in the 1950s to only 44K acres in 2005.

Some family apprehensions: hopefully they aren't part of the cosca or 'Ndrangheta (Calabrese mafia), and make good Calabrian wine. These aside, I am excited for the journey ahead...